User devices may communicate with remote entities via wireless communication, subject to different types of contractual data plans. In a first type of data plan, a wireless communication provider (a “provider”) may allow a user to consume an unlimited amount of data within a billing cycle without the payment of usage-related surcharges. As used herein, an application is said to “consume” data when it causes the data to be sent or received over wireless communication infrastructure. In a second type of data plan, a provider may allow a user to consume data up to an identified threshold in the course of the billing cycle, or to consume data on a per-transaction basis.
In environments that use the second type of data plan, a provider can offer various tools that enable a user to determine the total amount of data that he or she has consumed at any point in the billing cycle. For example, in one case, the user may send a usage-related inquiry to a server associated with the provider. The server responds by notifying the user of the total amount of data that has been consumed by the user's device thus far in the billing cycle.
The above-described tool helps the user regulate his or her consumption of data. However, there is room for improvement in known systems for conveying usage-related information to users.